
Class L B \5 LJL 
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Blackboard Work 

» 

in Reading 



IDA EVELYN FINLEY 

THE HYANNIS, MASS., STATE NORMAL AND TRAINING SCHOOL 
AUTHOR OF "LITTLE HOME WORKERS," A FIRST READER 



BENJ. H. SANBORN & CO. 

BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO 



Copyright, 1913 

BY 

Ida E. Fin ley 






©CI.A35109J8 



FOREWORD 

There are many teachers who experience some difficulty 
in beginning the teaching of reading. They are somewhat at 
a loss to know just what to do on the first day, how to choose 
the first vocabulary, and how to plan the work so as to prepare 
the children most easily and rapidly for the text. They feel 
helpless in starting this very new work with the children, and 
indeed it is difficult work even for a teacher of some experience. 

This monograph has been written in the hope that it may 
prove helpful to primary teachers. It is an effort to aid them 
in planning blackboard lessons along lines of interest to the 
children, and its aim is to initiate the reading habit in the 
earliest lessons. 

Part One discusses briefly the fundamental principles under- 
lying the early board work. 

Part Two gives several series of type lessons for board work, 
and discusses the use of the blackboard in conjunction with 
the use of the books. 

The author would call attention especially to the discussion 
of " Training the Quick Eye to Perception of Phrase and 
Sentence." Too great emphasis cannot be put upon this 
phase of the work, so vital to a good reading habit. 

I. E. F. 



Part One 



Up to the time of entering school, at the age of six, the child's 
home has been his world. From the life of his own home, his 
interest reaches out to the home life of birds and animals, to 
the life of other children in homes unlike his own, and to the 
life of the community in which he lives. All his social experi- 
ences must be grasped, understood, through the experiences 
he has gained in his own home. 

The human interest, or the interest in people and what they 
are doing, is the dominating interest of the child and the one 
that all children have in common. One child will have wider 
experiences with domestic animals, another with toys, another 
with street life; but the one'interest every child will carry is 
the human interest. So true is this that in all his experiences 
with animal life and in all the stories he reads about animals 
he is constantly interpreting from the standpoint of his human 
experience. The personification of animals is simply an ex- 
pression of this. The human interest is the dominating one 
also in literature; and because the child develops this interest 
so early, he finds himself at home in Literature, especially in 
the simplest forms that have arisen from the people, or the 
Folk. Such forms we find in Nursery Rhymes and Folk 
Tales. 



2 BLACKBOARD WORK IN READING 

The Teacher's Preparation 

The teacher's best preparation for teaching the first steps 
in reading, therefore, will be to learn what experiences a child 
~, ™ . , of six has had in his home. She should observe 

Of Material 

what he plays and how, what rhymes and 
stories he knows and enjoys, what pets and toys he has, 
what duties he performs in helping father and mother, what 
activities of parents or of others who visit the home he has 
observed and been interested in. These may properly furnish 
material for the early blackboard lessons in reading. 

The teacher must select with care the first vocabulary, choos- 
ing only such words as can appear again and again in stories 
The First which the children enjoy. While we start with 
Vocabulary {] ie experiences of the child, the vocabulary should 
be so chosen as to prepare him to take up his first book. It 
is desirable that he find a somewhat familiar vocabulary when 
he takes his first book work. 

Let us look at some of the type lessons that 
y P e essons ^g^t be drawn from the child's experience. 

Type I 

Who will buy I will buy 
a dog-? a dog. 

Who will buy I will buy 
a horse ? a horse. 

Who will buy I will buy 
a doll? a doll. 



BLACKBOARD WORK IN READING £ 

Type II 

1. Trot, trot, trot, 2. Come, my pony. 

Trot, my pony, trot. Come to me. 

3. Come, my pony. 4. Drink, my pony. 
I will feed yon. Drink this water. 

5. I ride my pony. 
My pony gallops. 

Type III 
1. Come, little duds. Children call the chickens. 



2. Come, little chicks. 
I will feed yon. 

3. Come, Mother Hen. 
I will feed you. 

4. Come, little chicks. 
Come to me. 



They feed them. 

They feed Mother Hen, too. 



Mother Hen calls her chick- 
ens to eat a worm. 



5. Come, little chicks. Hen sees a hawk and calls 
Come to me. chickens to her. 

She hides them beneath her 

I will hide yon. wings. 



BLACKBOARD WORK IN READING 



G. Cluck, cluck. 
Run, run. 
Run to me. 
I will hide you. 

7. Come, Mother Hen. 
Are you hungry? 
I will feed you. 

Eat tin's corn. 



" Cluck, 
it to 



The hawk comes nearer and 
the hen, in alarm, calls. 

Do not drill on 
cluck," merely use 
secure good expression for 
" Run, run." 



Children again feed hen and 
chickens. 



Are you hungry, 

little chicks? 
Come to me. 
I will feed you. 
Come, little chicks. 
Eat this bread. 



The new words and phrases introduced in each lesson of 
this series (Type III) are italicized. Observe that only two 
such are introduced and there is constant review of the vo- 
cabulary. Lesson 7 gives a review of familiar words and 
phrases, and also gives a unity of five connected sentences. 

How would you begin specifically the first day to lead up 
to such an expression of the children's experiences in reading- 
lessons of this type? Let us suppose we wish to lead toward 



BLACKBOARD WORK IN READING O 

No. I, "Who will buy?" "I will buy." We choose this 
^ „. „ because it represents a universal human experience. 

The First Day x , . „ , , ■, , 

The country child, if he does not go to the store, is 
interested in his parents' trips and the things they have 
bought. To the city child it is an every-day experience. 
He goes to the store to buy. 

If we look at this lesson, we shall find that we really have 
three lessons in one. It could not be given on a first day. It 
supposes at least three distinct experiences: one with the 
buying, one with the selling, one with the toys. If we start 
with the first we shall at once get a phrase expressing action, 
" 1 will buy," which lends itself to varied expression. 

I would begin with the real experience in buying and 
selling. Let the children play store, each choosing whether 
he will buy or sell. W T hen interest reaches a certain point, 
carry it over into blackboard expression. " I will buy." 
" I will sell." These two sentences, which constitute funda- 
mental phrases in many sentences subsequently used, are all 
that the class should take in one day. They should be 
printed on the board, clearly and rapidly, as the children's 
own expression, and read naturally. 

Illustration: As each child says whether he will buy or sell, 
print quickly his sentence and have him read (repeat) it. 
"I will buy" or " I will sell." 

Arrange the sentences first one below the other, thus: 

I will buy. I will sell. 

I will sell. I will buy. 



6 BLACKBOARD WORK IN READING 

Then scatter them on the board, thus: 

I will buy. I will sell. 

I will buy. 

I will sell. I will buy. 

I will buy. 

I will sell. I will sell. 

Work only five or ten minutes thus, recording the sentences 
as given by the children and requiring each to read his own. 
Later in the day take the class for five or ten minutes to the 
board to read the same sentences. Use this device. Hold up 
a card (tagboard cut 12 x 4) on which is printed in large type, 
" I will buy." Read it clearly and distinctly with animated 
expression. Ask some child to place this card below a sentence 
on the board which says, " I will buy." Show him how to 
hold the card. Hold up a card on which is printed, " I will 
sell." Again read clearly and distinctly, and ask a child to 
place this card below a sentence on the board which says, " I 
will sell." Work five or ten minutes thus, just matching the 
sentences on cards with those on the board. 
The Second As a second lesson, we may let the children bring 

Day their toys (dog, horse, etc.). 

Buying and selling has been done with these toys and the 
children know about it. Let them tell where toys are sold 
and where these toys were bought. Of course the children 
speak of these things as of natural objects. No child says, 



BLACKBOARD WORK IN READING / 

" My toy dog." He says, " My dog." Therefore use the 
child's natural expression. 

I will buy I will sell 

a dog. a horse. 

I will buy I will sell 

a liorse. a dog. 

This is as much as a class, unless unusually bright, should 
do on the second day. We have again used the fundamental 
phrases, " I will buy," " I will sell," and we have taught 
two new words, " a dog," " a horse." 

Observe the waj^ in which these new sentences are printed 
in the illustration given. Only the fundamental phrase, " I 
will buy," on one line, and " a dog " on a second line, thus: 

I will buy Not I will buy a dog. 
a dog. 

This makes the familiar phrase, " I will buy," stand out; 
also the new word, " a dog." 

For the third lesson we may let the little girls bring their 
dolls to the class. In the interesting conversation that would 
The Third naturally grow out of the presence of the dolls, 

Da y lead to the question of where the children got them. 

Even if the dolls were given to them (unless Santa Claus 
brought them) the children will know that the buying and 
selling has been done. Now all the sentences in the first 
exercise can be placed on the board. 



BLACKBOARD WORK IN READING 



Who will buy 

a doll ? 


I Avill buy 
a doll. 


Who will buy 

a horse ? 


I will buy 
a horse. 


Who will buy 
a clog ? 


I will buy 

a dog. 



Again we have taught two new words, " Who," " a doll," — 
and what is very important we have given a new phrase form. 
It is very important that the child be given a new phrase 
form before he gets into the habit of thinking that everything 
is to start with an " I will." 

In these first three lessons with which we have assumed 
that the teacher has started, several important principles 
have already been involved. 

1. We have started with the child's experience. 

2. The board work has been an expression of that experi- 
ence. Hence each sentence represents a content that the 
child understands and can vividly picture. 

3. There has been careful preparation of content. 

(a) Through conversation and play the child's thought 
and feeling have been aroused; his mind has been made 
active over the material chosen for the reading. 

(b) He has been given an opportunity to think, feel, 
and express his thought and feeling, in oral language 
and in action, before his attention was called to the 
written form. 



BLACKBOARD WORK IN READING 9 

(c) He has been led into the use of the printed form 
as an expression of his ideas, as naturally and simply as 
the mother has led him into the use of the oral form of 
expression. 
Principle : The thought and feeling must now pass over into 
the printed form, and the child must grasp it as a new 
means of expression, a means that appeals to the eye as 
did oral expression to the ear. 

4. The sentences have been clearly and rapidly printed on 
the board at the moment of highest concentration of atten- 
tion on the part of the child. 

5. The children have read these sentences naturally. 

6. There has been a repetition in use of the fundamental 
phrases first taught ("I will buy," " I will sell ") in all 
these lessons. No attempt to memorize these sentences 
has been made, yet the repeated use has given a clear 
image and deepened sense impression. So we are secur- 
ing a natural mode of memorizing. 

Principle : The child's interest is the key to the whole 
situation and determines whether the work will be easy 
or difficult for him. If sufficiently interested in the words 
and phrases he will master them. 

Other simple lessons may follow, growing out of the experi- 
ences of the class in buying and selling. For instance, the 
children in the more remote rural districts have experiences 
with the products of the home and farm, — milk, butter, eggs, 
poultry, hay, grain, etc. They know these things are taken 
to the nearest village market and sold. They may play drive 



10 BLACKBOARD WORK IN READING 

into market to sell, as father does, using a cart and a boy for 
a horse. 

For this group of children, compare A. " Rural Communi- 
ties," on page 33. 

Again, the child in the town or city has experiences with 
selling papers on the street and at houses, selling milk at 
houses, selling berries and flowers. For this group, compare 
B. " Town or City," on page 34. 

Centers of interest should be chosen in accordance with the 
child's experiences and environment. For illustration, one 
teacher chose for her first lessons a series on the cow because 
she taught in a farming district where the children dail}< 
drive home the cows. To arouse interest she read to them 
two stanzas from Whittier's " Cow Boy Song." Another 
teacher chose the chicken series of Type III. A city teacher 
might better use the activities of street life so familiar to city 
children. A few lessons suited to city children are suggested 
in C. " Street Life and Social Plays," on page 35. 

Every teacher must decide upon a sequence suited to the 
group of children she is to teach. Any good beginning of this 
kind may be made to lead out in almost any direction. We 
may connect the lessons with the child's play instinct or with the 
work instinct. D. " Building," on pages 37 to 39, suggests les- 
sons based on the play instinct suited to any group of children. 

In whatever direction it may lead there must be 

Sequence in Vocabulary 
Let us look for a moment at Type II. It gives a series of 
five lessons, covering at least a week's work. These lessons 



BLACKBOARD WORK IN READING 11 

might be used with any group of children, because the center 
of interest chosen for this series is one of universal interest. 
It is connected with the play instinct. The boys all play horse. 
There is a regular development in their play of horse akin 
to that of dolls with girls, and, like house, it is of interest to 
both boys and girls of six. 

First comes the stick or hobby-horse of the very small boy, 
later his rocking-horse, and then the play of two boys where 
reins are used and a live horse is most desirable. At this last 
stage the various activities of the live horse are imitated by 
the boy who is the horse, and are of great interest to the child. 
He trots, runs away, gallops like a horse. This is the stage 
at which we find him when he enters school. 

In preparation for a series of short reading lessons centered 
around this interest and growing out of it, I let the children 
play horse and to music trot and gallop in rhythm. It affords 
excellent physical exercise, as well as fun which makes the 
child alive to the content of the sentences chosen for the read- 
ing. If we have no piano, one half the class sing while the 
others trot. We use these words of a song given in " Song 
Echoes from Childland," Jenks (published by Oliver Ditson 
Company). I changed the wording of the second line to suit 
my need : 

" Trot, trot, trot, 

Trot, my pony, trot. 

Down the roadside, rough and stony, 

Trot along, my little pony. 

Trot, trot, trot, trot, trot, 

Little pony, trot." 



12 BLACKBOARD WORK IN READING 

The trotting: Let one child extend his hands behind him 
and another take his hands as if holding reins. Better still, 
have reins for each couple, or at least for one couple. 

Reading. Lesson I 

For the first lesson of this series take the first two lines of 
the song. They should be printed on the board. 

Trot, trot, trot, 
Trot, my pony, trot. 

1. As the children sing them, the teacher should point, 
indicating each word, and the phrase " my pony." 

2. The teacher should point to the words " my pony/' and 
ask what we call our horse. 

3. Let different children go to the board to find, by location 
in the lines, " Trot," " trot," " my pony." If they do not 
readily find each, have the class sing as the teacher points 
until every child can locate each word. 

Lesson II 

For the second lesson take the sentences expressing the 
child's call to his pony, — 

Come, my pony. 
Come to me. 

This reviews " my pony " and introduces the new word 
" come " and the phrase " to me." 



BLACKBOARD WORK IN READING 



13 



(1) Have these sentences read with natural expression as 
you rapidly print them on the board. (2) Again, as you rapidly 
move the pointer along under the entire sentence, have each 
read with natural expression. (3) Moving the pointer more 
slowly, indicate the parts of each sentence, "come," "my 
pony," "tome," and have the children tell what part you 
pointed to. 

Lesson III 

For the third lesson, the child may play get hay for his 
horse and feed him. This is what he would say, — 

Come, my pony. 
I will feed you. 



Teach, by location in the sentence, " I will," " feed," " you." 
(1) Use the pointer as in the two preceding exercises. (2) Use 



cards for matching 



I will 


feed 


you 



(3) Let the 



children build the sentence on the floor, choosing cards to 
match each part indicated by the teacher. She may speak 
the phrase or word, at the same time pointing to it in the 
sentence. The child must choose the card to match " I will" 
and place it on the floor, then " feed," " you." (4) Have 
the sentences which were built, read with natural expression. 



14 BLACKBOARD WORK IN READING 

Lesson IV 

For the fourth lesson, the child may play give his horse a 
drink of water and tell him to drink. We get the sentences 

Drink, my pony. 
Drink this water. 

We again use the now familiar phrase " my pony," and 
teach the new word, " drink," and the new phrase, " this 
water." Do not attempt to teach this as an isolated word, 
but rather the expression " this water." 

Such words as this, that, some are better taught with a noun, 
as used. The word " the " never can be taught as an isolated 
word for it has meaning only when used with its noun. We 
would do well to follow the habit of the Germans and teach 
the articles " a," " an," " the," only with their nouns. 

Lesson V 
For the fifth and last lesson of this series, teach the sentences 

I ride my pony. 
My pony gallops. 

These sentences add the phrase " I ride," and the word 
" gallops." 

As preparation on the content side, that the children may 
be ready to grasp the meaning of these sentences, let all the 
children be horses and gallop to rhythmic music. If without 



BLACKBOARD WORK IN READING 15 

a piano, clap in rhythm. Have conversation to get the idea 
that when we ride horseback we like our horse to gallop. Also 
teach the form of expression used to mean riding on the back 
of a horse, " I ride a horse." Use a stick or rocking-horse to 
show how we mount and ride a horse. 

Note that, in this type set, (1) there is a sequence in vocabu- 
lary. This series of lessons is so planned that the child adds 
daily one or two words or phrases to his vocabulary. (2) There 
is a unity in thought. The sentences are grouped. Herein is 
involved a vital principle. 

Principle : Isolated sentences should not be used. Sentences 
should be related in thought, making unities for each lesson. 
When the child reaches his book, related sentences or stories 
are what he should find. This means that the child is follow- 
ing up a series of ideas or images while he reads. He is fol- 
lowing the thought. The child is learning to read for meaning. 
Reading for meaning leads to the 

Recognition of Words through Context 

This is the most desirable way of recognizing words and 
should constitute the child's habit. 

Illustration: A child is reading the sentences, " Drink, 
kitty. Drink this milk." Let us suppose he does not 
know the word " milk." There should be such a strong 
thought impulse from these two related sentences that he 
grasps the word " milk " from the thought sequence. 

If the child stops to spell the word phonetically (provided he 
has had training in phonics) he loses for the time being the 
thought connection. For this reason the child should be en- 



16 BLACKBOARD WORK IN READING 

couraged to think the word that belongs there. In the read- 
ing lesson proper, phonics or sound spelling should be used as 
a last resort only. The contextual recognition of words 
should become the habit for it is the right habit of self help- 
fulness. When the child has had the word before, if he does 
not get it through the context of the new sentence he should 
be encouraged to go back to a familiar sentence in which it 
occurs and find it. He will recognize it through its meaning 
in the familiar connection more readily than through the new; 
and he is still using the contextual mode of getting new words. 

Illustration: He has had " drink " in the sentence, " Drink 
this water," when reading the series on the pony, Type II. 

He may not recognize it in this new sentence, " Drink this 
milk," but he may be able to find it in the familiar sentence, 
get it through its meaning in that connection, and see that it 
is the same in the new sentence. 

By this method of self helpfulness he has not been distracted 
from reading for meaning as in the case where he resorted to 
sound spelling or phonics. 

All new words can be taught more easily and quickly in the 
sentence. So presented the meaning is grasped more correctly, 
and a child will master a word many times more quickly when 
he is alive to its meaning. So true is this that invariably the 
children of a class will pick out (grasp and retain) the words 
they have individually responded to. When I used the series 
on the pony, the most backward boy in the class grasped and 
made his own the word " gallops " the first time it was pre- 
sented. He enjoyed the activity of galloping and was fully 
alive to its meaning in the sentence. 



BLACKBOARD WORK IN READING 17 

This same child always knows the sentence, " I will feed 
you," but cannot recognize the individual words in it when 
isolated and written in a column. He gets them in other 
sentences often by going back to this familiar one in the man- 
ner just described. 

As another illustration of getting words through context, I 
taught this rhyme: 

Little Tommy Tucker, 

Sing for your supper. 
What shall I sing? 

White bread and butter. 

By location in the rhyme the class learned " sing," " sup- 
per," " your supper," " for your supper," " white bread," 
"butter," " bread and butter," and the sentence, "What 
shall I sing? " A number of short but interesting lessons were 
possible with this vocabulary. The line " What shall I sing? " 
was easily changed to " What shall I do? " " What shall I 
play? " " What shall I build? " " What shall I build with 
my blocks? " " What shall I make? " " What shall I buy? " 
" What shall I eat? " The reply to these questions gave us 
the phrase " I shall " in "I shall build a house." " I shall 
buy a pony." " I shall play horse," or house, or dolls, etc. 

Here are a number of short lessons to be taken on the board 
or printed on cards or leaflets for individual reading. The 
child goes to the rhyme to find any word not quickly recog- 
nized. The leaflets may be exchanged until all have read 
each one. 



18 BLACKBOARD WORK IN READING 

I II 

Mother makes bread. The baker makes 

She makes white bread, bread. 
We eat butter on our He sells the bread, 
bread. He sells white 

We eat bread and but- bread. 

ter. He sells brown 

We drink milk. bread. 

We go to the 
baker's to buy bread. 

in 

Picture of " Feeding Her Birds." * 
The mother says, 

"Come, my children. 
Come to your supper. 
Are you hungry? 
Eat your supper. 
Eat this bread and milk. 

"Father is coming home. 
He is coming to supper. 
Father eats bread and butter." 

*Scott-Southworth Lessons in English. Hook I, p. 9G. 



BLACKBOARD WORK IN READING 



19 



IV 
I am Tommy Tucker. 
I want my supper. 
I will go to the baker. 
The baker sells bread. 

The baker sells white bread. 
He sells brown bread. 
I will buy white bread. 
I want bread and butter 
for my supper. 

V 
Tommy Tucker went 
to the baker. 

He said, "I want my 
supper." 

The baker said, 
"Sing, Tommy Tucker, 

Sing for your supper." white bread for 
"What shall I sing?" your supper." 
said Tommy Tucker. 
" I want my supper. 
I want Avhite bread for my supper." 



The baker said, 

" Little Tommy 
Tucker, 

Sing for your 
supper. 

You shall have 



20 blackboard work in reading 

Phonic Analysis 

There comes a time when the children begin to compare 
words, grouping them because of similarity of form or sound. 

At this point they are ready to begin work in phonetics or 
sound spelling. 

I prefer to keep this work entirely distinct from the reading 
lesson proper, though work in phonic analysis without the use 
of diacritical marks may help later in the reading process. It 
may be regarded as an important device for training the child 
to power in getting word forms. It gives him another means 
of self helpfulness in making out new words for himself. The 
best schools recognize the need of early beginning a habit of 
self dependence on the part of the child. Therefore, the 
teacher never tells him a word that he can find out for himself. 
He is encouraged to get it through the context and to look it 
up when he has had it before; or if the context does not help 
and he can get the word bj^ phonic analysis or by seeing in it 
a familiar phonogram, he is encouraged to do that. 

Many of the consonant sounds may be taught by associa- 
tion with some sound in nature before any systematic work 
in word analysis or word building is attempted. This list 
has sometimes proven helpful: 

t = the sound a watch makes. 
m = the sound the telegraph wires make, 
h = a tired dog panting, 
r = a cross dog growling. 
f = an angry cat when chased by a dog. 
c and k = sound made by expelling a fish bone from the throat. 



BLACKBOARD WORK IN READING 21 

d = the sound a pigeon makes. Have the tip of the 
tongue placed just back of the upper teeth and push 
the breath. Keep lips apart. 
b = No association with this, but attention must be 
given to the correct making of this sound. Tell the 
children to close the lips tightly and keep them 
closed; then push the breath hard. Do not allow 
an explosive sound, 
g = the frog sound. Move the throat as a frog does. It 
helps the children to place the finger tips on the 
teacher's throat as she makes this sound. Through 
touch they get the vibration. 
ow = the sound one makes when hurt, 
ch = the engine of a train when starting, 
sh = the engine of a train when stopping, letting off steam, 
wh = the candle sound. I tell the story of the family with 
crooked mouths and one straight mouth and their 
attempt to blow out a candle. The children hold up 
a finger to represent the candle and blow it out. 

The phonogram " ing " may be taught and united with 
familiar verbs to form the progressive. These progressive 
forms of the verb should be used in sentences as soon as formed. 

Ear Training 
Systematic work in phonics must be done along two lines, 
ear training and speech training. The ear must be trained to 
discriminate the initial consonant sounds and the phonograms 
in words. Then must come perception of the blend or union 
of the initial consonant with the phonogram. 



22 BLACKBOARD WORK IN READING 

The work, therefore, is both analytic and synthetic. To 
illustrate, suppose we are reading the sentences 

I make bread. 
I bake it. 



The children observe that the words " make " and " bake " 
look alike. Some child discovers that they sound alike only 
not just alike. 

Now is the time to begin definite work in phonic analysis. 

(1) The teacher should slowly pronounce each of these two 
words, with a slight emphasis on the consonants, until the chil- 
dren discover that one begins with the " m " sound, and the 
other with the " b " sound, and in that way they can tell the 
words apart. 

(2) Again, by slowly pronouncing " make " with emphasis 
now on the initial consonant " m," now on the phonogram 
" ake " (ra'ake or make') the ear may be trained to detect each 
in the word. 

(3) Then write the word upon the board and as you pro- 
nounce it, with emphasis on the " m," cover the " ake," or, as 
you emphasize " ake," cover the " m." Repeatedly pro- 
nounce thus, covering the part (or sound) not emphasized; 
and thus let the eye and ear unite in a sense impression of the 
phonogram shown. 

(4) Work in the same way (as in steps 2 and 3) with " bake." 
Use the sentences, " I make bread. I bake it," to fix these 
two words associating meaning with the correct form. 



BLACKBOARD WORK IN READING 23 

(5) The class is now ready to try building words of this 
group. Write on the board make 

Have these words pronounced, bake 

also the phonogram " ake." ake 

Then show " c " (printed on a card) and hold it before the 
phonogram " ake." Let the children pronounce slowly, then 
more rapidly until they get the new word " cake." Use it at 
once in sentences, as " I make cake," " I bake the cake," 
" We eat cake," etc. 

So build other words of this group, " take," " rake," " wake," 
etc., and use them in sentences. 

It matters little what device is used in teaching consonants 
and phonograms. The important thing is that they be taught 
correctly and thoroughly. 

It is important that sounds united always form words which 
the children use, and that the words formed by phonic analysis 
or phonetic building be given meaning. I therefore recommend 
that in the period set apart for phonic work, part of it be given 
to reading sentences in each of which occurs one new word 
gained by phonic analysis or building. In this way the work 
in phonetics may come to be an aid to the reading process. 
Phonic work aids purity of speech, for a perception of sounds — 
and of the blended sounds — finds expression in correct utter- 
ance, or clear enunciation. The child must be required to 
make each sound correctly and clearly. 

Board Reviews 

Even more important than work with phonetics are board 
reviews of sight words and fundamental phrases. Five or ten 



24 BLACKBOARD WORK IN READING 

minutes daily must be given to this work. A word or phrase 
is soon forgotten unless frequently reviewed. 

Of course the best form of review is the repeated use of a 
word or fundamental phrase in new sentences and stories. 
Therefore study to read as many interesting stories as possible 
with the small growing vocabulary, thus reviewing through 
use all the fundamental phrases taught. 

For illustration: In connection with the story of " The 
Gingerbread Man " we may have taught these sentences: 

Run, run as fast as I ran away from 

you can. an old man. 

You cannot catch I ran away from 

me. an old woman. 

I am the Ginger- I ran away from 

bread Man. a horse. 

I am running* away. 

These sentences m&y be followed by the stories of a little 
girl and of a naughty pig running away. In these two stories 
several expressions (fundamental phrases) are repeated. 

I am a little girl. 
I am running. 
I am running away. 
I am running 
as fast as I can. 



BLACKBOARD WORK IN READING 25 

The Naughty Pig 

I am a little pig. 
I am a naughty pig. 
I am running away. 
You cannot catch me. 

I am running 
as fast as I can. 

In these stories the use of the phrases " I am," " I am 
running," " running away," " as fast as," " I can," and the 
sentence " You cannot catch me," gives a certain amount of 
review. For further review, print rapidly and repeatedly all 
the familiar phrases; erase quickly, calling on the child to tell 
what he saw. 

Training in Visual Perception 

When the child is matching words, his power of seeing 
likenesses and differences is continually challenged. In other 
words, he is learning to see words more accurately. No teacher 
can appreciate the fact in its fullness that, when a child takes 
up reading, he is active in an entirely new way. Up to this 
time he has been getting auditory and speech images of words. 
He now needs training in eye perception of words. To see 
the word and think its content must now become as natural 
to him as to hear the word and think its content. For this 
reason the careful teacher of primary reading makes training 
in visual perception of words a specific aim in the daily work. 



26 BLACKBOARD WORK IN READING 

She may use several devices to this end. Following arc a few 
helpful devices: 

(1) Word and Phrase Matching. 

On small cards, made of tagboard and cut 6" x 3", have 
neatly printed all the words and phrases which the class has 
had. Have a child take a card and match it with the same 
word or phrase on the board, as it occurs in a sentence or 
rhyme. This device demands that he image the word or 
phrase on the card, compare it with words and phrases in the 
sentence or rhyme, and decide whether the two are alike. 
Hence it trains him in visual perception. The cards should 
be made with print large at first, then gradually diminish the 
size of the print, as the child grows in power to perceive. 

(2) Building on the Floor. 

Use these same cards letting the child build on the floor 
or table, reproducing the sentences on the board. This is a 
step more difficult than matching his card as described in 
(1) because of the distance from the board to the floor. They 
are farther apart and it makes a longer interval for him to 
remember. 

(3) Constructing New Sentences. 

Again the teacher may use these review cards in rapid con- 
struction of new sentences, which the child reads. Later the 
child may construct new sentences of his own. 

(4) Building at the Seat. 

For this work the teacher must hectograph or print the 
words and phrases for her class. It is not helpful to use the 
prepared word builders (letters) for this work. The children 
find sentence building with letters tiresome, and it does not 



BLACKBOARD WORK IN READING 27 

help them to visualize word forms. They enjoy and are helped 
by building with the familiar word and phrase wholes used in 
the reading exercise. The size of the card and printing may 
be smaller. The cards should be cut one inch wide and in 
lengths to suit the word or phrase on each. 

These devices are valuable for training the child in visual 
perception of word forms and in discriminating the individual 
word or short phrase in a sentence or rhyme. 

Training the Quick Eye to Perception of Phrase and 

Sentence 

There is another phase of this eye training very vital to a 
good reading habit. 

Recent research has shown that when we read the eyes 
move across the line in short sweeps, with frequent pauses 
until the end of the line is reached. Then they sweep back 
and pick up the next line, repeating the forward movement, — 
fixating, springing forward, fixating again, etc., to the end of 
that line. 

Seeing takes place at these points of fixation. The eyes 
move with great swiftness between these fixation points. 

With a trained reader all this eye-activity is reflex and 
rhythmical, the fixation pauses falling pretty regularly and with 
automatic ease. The eyestrain in reading is much greater 
than has been supposed, and especially is this true in learning 
to read. An absolutely new set of eye movements must be 
acquired. In this the child needs special help and intelligent 
direction. Small type, fancy lettering, broken lines, lines too 
long or too short, poor lighting, all increase eyestrain and 



28 BLACKBOARD WORK IN READING 

present difficulties which hinder acquirement of this new set 
of eye movements. 

The intelligent teacher of young children, so far as possible, 
will eliminate for them these difficulties. 

(1) She will use for her board work a large, plain, clearly 
made print. 

(2) She will carefully space and arrange the sentences. The 
sentences must not be crowded too closely together, nor must 
the words in a sentence run into one another. Teachers are 
often careless of these details in putting work upon the board 
and then wonder that the child does not read readily. 

(3) At first she will use short sentences composed of four 
words only. Professor Cattell found that on an average the 
individual can at one time (that is, with a single sweep and 
fixation of the eye) grasp three to four letters, two words, or 
a sentence composed of four words. Twice as many words can 
be grasped in a single fixation of the eye when they make 
sentences as when they have no connection. 

(4) The teacher will definitely aim to direct the eye-move- 
ments and to so control the points of fixation as to enable the 
child most easily to grasp the meaning of the sentence. McMurry 
has said, " Eye-training is the foundation of all good reading. 
One must cultivate a quick eye and the ability to grasp whole 
phrases and short sentences at a glance so as to get thought and 
express it properly." 

Miss Laing, in her " Manual on Reading," has expressed 
this same principle thus: " The habit of sentence grasp must, 
from the first, be vigorously initiated." 

Suppose the child is to read the sentence " My little pony 



BLACKBOARD WORK IN READING 29 

has lost a shoe." To grasp correctly the meaning of this 
sentence, the eyes must move across it in three sweeps, grasp- 
ing in the first fixation, " My little pony"; in the second 
fixation, " has lost "; and in the third, " a shoe." 

How may the teacher secure the eye movement necessary 
to a grasp of this sentence? 

(a) By her use of the pointer. As a child reads, rapidly 
move the pointer in sweeps, with pauses for him to grasp the 
part of the sentence indicated by each sweep until the end of 
the sentence is reached. The child's eye will follow the move- 
ment of the pointer. 

(6) By her method of putting the sentence on the board. 
It must grow before the eyes of the children. She may 
print " My little pony," pause for the eye and mind to grasp 
it (perhaps ask, " What does this sentence tell about? " and 
let one read it aloud), add " has lost," make another slight 
pause, and add " a shoe." When the period is placed at the 
end of the sentence, many of the children are ready to read it, 
for they have worked with her, reading, grasping the thought 
phrase by phrase, as she printed the sentence. 

(c) By helping the child to associate meaning with each 
phrase. Keep interest centered in content. 

The meaning of the sentence must always determine the 
phrases to be grasped by each fixation of the eye. A teacher 
might, by her pointing, so divide this sentence, " My little 
pony has lost a shoe," as to make it impossible for a young 
child to grasp its meaning correctly. To illustrate: She might 
make the first fixation after " has " and another at the end of 
the line. 



30 BLACKBOARD WORK IN READING 

Let us consider the possible effect on the child who is read- 
ing. His grasp of the words " My little pony has " leads him 
to expect the name of some object in the possession of the 
pon}^, and he adds " a shoe." He does not see the word 
"lost " at all. It is a natural mistake, the natural result of 
this phrasing or division of the sentence. The teacher un- 
consciously has caused his mistake. 

There is no meaning in the words " lost a shoe." The phrase 
" has lost " gives meaning to the entire sentence, so it is im- 
portant that " has lost " be grasped as a whole. Hence it is 
vitally important that the teacher herself keep in mind the 
content of that which is read. 

To illustrate this point further, take these sentences from the 
story of " The Three Little Pigs " in Book One of the Edson- 
Laing Series of Readers : 

One day a wolf came to the straw house. 
The wolf knocked at the door. 
The little pig ran to the door. 

In the first sentence the action is expressed by the words 
" a wolf came." This is the phrase which gives meaning to 
the sentence and upon which emphasis should fall in reading- 
it. Therefore help the children to grasp it as a whole. The 
question, " What happened one day? " directs attention to 
the incident which these three related words express, and 
establishes association of meaning with the phrase. 

Again in the third sentence quoted, the words " ran to the 
door" express the central truth of the sentence. These four 



BLACKBOARD WORK IN READING 31 

words must be grasped at a glance and must be spoken as one 
word, one phrase whole. 

It is evident that this training into a habit of grasping 
phrase wholes through meaning or content has a direct in- 
fluence upon expression in oral reading and also is an aid to 
language work. 

As a child grows in power to grasp phrase wholes and short 
sentences, he can unite these until he has power to get the 
long sentence. His thought moves on, grasping phrase by 
phrase the entire sentence, then from sentence to sentence 
until he has grasped the paragraph or the short story. 

Reasons for Using the Blackboard in the First Weeks 
It provides for a common focus of attention. It enables 
the teacher to create the work before the eyes of the child. 

Note : The child will follow the word that is printed before 
his eyes when he is unable to fix his attention on the already 
made form given to him. -The child's attention naturally 
follows movement and he can give attention to the form that 
he sees made when he cannot attend to the ready-made form. 
The blackboard enables the teacher to secure and direct the 
attention of her class better than any other means. Seeing 
the thing done before his eyes constitutes a motor stimulus for 
the child. It makes him want to do the same thing himself. 
It compels us to start with something that is of vital interest 
to the child. It gives the child an opportunity to have a 
part in the sentences himself, and therefore leads him natur- 
ally into expression, or the reading of sentences. A chart can 
never do this. 



32 BLACKBOARD WORK IN READING 

Board work enables us to start with the interests of the 
definite group of children that we are working with. The 
chart can never adapt itself to the interests of special children. 

How long should board work be continued is often asked. 
There really are two aspects of the work. 

(1) Getting the child ready to use books by initiating a 
reading habit. 

(2) In conjunction with the use of books, as preparatory for 
individual lessons in the book. 

Just how long we continue blackboard work in getting ready 
to use books depends much upon the thoroughness with which 
the work has been done, and somewhat upon the class of 
children, their development and range of interests. There is 
a wide difference of opinion and practice. Some teachers use 
the board only three or four weeks before taking the books, 
while others continue eight or ten weeks before taking them. 
Personally, I believe that ten weeks, supplemented by a use of 
leaflets which the teacher herself prepares, is not too long for 
this preparatory board work. I see no advantage in hastening 
over this part. 

The freedom which the board work gives a teacher to firmly 
establish a reading habit along lines of interest to the children 
seems to commend its continued use for the longer period. 

In connection with the books, I believe the use of the black- 
board should be continued throughout the first and the early 
half of the second years. 



Part Two 



Blackboard Lessons Suggesting Sequences for 
Different Groups of Children 

Buying and Selling 

These lessons are to supplement those given in Type I, 
and grow out of experiences of the class in buying and selling. 
Compare pages 2 to 5 and 8 to 10. The lessons under A 
are based upon experiences of children in the more remote 
rural communities, and those under B upon the experiences 
of children in the larger town and city. Have the play in 
preparation for each lesson. 

A. Rural Communities 

I will sell. . I will buy. 

I will sell milk. I will buy 

I will sell butter, some flour. 



I will sell eggs. 

Father sells milk. 
Father sells eggs. 
He sells butter. 
He sells wood. 



I will buy sugar. 
I will buy coal. 

Father buys sugar, 
He buys flour. 
He buys coal. 



33 



34 



BLACKBOARD WORK IN READING 



B. Town 


or City 


(1) 


(2) 


I sell milk. 


I sell papers. 


I go to the houses. 


I go to the houses. 


I sell milk 


I sell papers 


at the houses. 


at the houses. 


(3) 


(4) 


I sell papers. 


I sell flowers. 


I sell papers 


I sell flowers 


on the street. 


on the street. 


I call, 


Who will buy? 


"Papers! Papers! 


Who will buy 


Eecord! Herald! Globe! my flowers? 


Papers! Papers!" 




I sell my papers. 




(5) 


(6) 


I go to the store 


I go to the baker's 


for my mother. 


shop to buy bread. 


I buy butter. 


I buy white bread. 


I buy eggs. 


I buy brown bread. 


I buy sugar. 


I buy buns at 




the baker's shop. 



BLACKBOARD WORK IN READING 



35 



(7) 

I play store. 

I sell things. 

I call up on the 
telephone. 

I say, " Any orders, 
to-day?" 

I go to the stable 
for my horse. 

I take things to 
the houses. 



(8) 

I play store. 
I sell toys. 
Will you buy 
my toys ? 

Come to my store. 



C. Street Life and Social Plays 

These lessons are designed for the children in the larger 
town and city. They are imitative plays, expressing phases 
of social life in which the child is interested. 



(1) Motorman on a Street 


(2) Conductor on a Stn 


Car. 


Car. 


I am the motorman. 


I am a conductor 


I drive the car. 


I ride on a car. 


This is my car. 


I take the fares. 


Will you ride 


I ring the bell. 


on my car? 





36 BLACKBOARD WORK IN READING 

(3) Conductor on a Train. J am a conductor 

Expressing the play of a little , . 

boy four years old for a on a train. 

week following his trip from i take the tickets. 

Rangeley, Me., to Boston, T „ m . n , 

Mass. Some bits of paper J- Say, "lickets, 

and his mother's buttonhole please! 
scissors equipped him for this „nv\ , j_. i , 

service as conductor. J- lCKetS, tickets ! 

"Tickets, please." 
I punch each ticket. 

(4) The Letter Carrier. 

I am a letter carrier. 
This is my mailbag. 
I carry letters in my bag. 
Here is a letter for you. 

(5) The Fire Horses. This supplements series in Type II. 

Clang! clang! clang! c i ang 

The fire horses are coming, fire horses 

Get Out of the Way. are coming 

Clang ! clang ! clang ! Get out of 

the way 

We are the fire horses. 

We live in the engine live 

IlOUSe. engine house 



BLACKBOARD WORK IN READING 



37 



alarm 



drops 



go 



There is a fire. There is 

We hear the alarm. hear 

We run to the engine. Down 

Down drops the harness. harness 

The firemen spring firemen 

upon the engine. spring 

Then away We gO. Then away 

The gong rings, gong rings 
"Clang! clang! clang!" 

We go to the fire. We go 

The firemen work. work 

They put on the water. put on 

They put out the fire. put out 



D. Building 

The instinct to build is universal with children. They 
build houses, walls, and many objects with building blocks 
and the kindergarten sticks. Lacking such material, they 
build with boxes, stones, sand, or any material they find with 
which they can build. 

Here are some reading lessons which grew out of this 
activity. The children gave me the sentences and we made 
these stories together at the board. At the end of the series 



38 



BLACKBOARD WORK IN READING 



of lessons at the board each story was printed on a card or 
leaflet and given the children for individual reading. Each 
read his leaflet silently, then aloud to the class. 



I 

We build houses. 

We build houses 
in the sand. 

We build houses 
with our blocks. 

We build with 
sticks. 



II 

A little boy 
built a house. 

He built it 
of boxes. 

It was his play 
house. 



Ill IV 

I am a little boy. I am a carpenter. 

My name is Ken- I build houses, 
neth. I can build a house 

I play in my father's for you. 
store. I will build you 

One day I built a a strong house, 
house. 

I built it of boxes. 

I played in the 
house. 



BLACKBOARD WORK IN READING 



39 



I built a house. 

I built it with my 
blocks. 

A little pig lives 
in this house. 

It is a strong house. 

The wolf can not 
get in. 

The wolf can not 
blow in this house. 



VI 

I built a house. 

I built it with 
sticks. 

A little pig lives 
in this house. 

It is not a strong 
house. 

The wolf can get in. 

He can blow in 
this house. 



VII 

I shall build a wall. 

I shall build it 
with my blocks. 

I shall build a 
strong wall. 



VIII 

I am a little pig. 

I shall build me 
a house. 

I want a tall house. 

I shall build my 
house of sticks. 



40 BLACKBOARD WORK IN READING 

IX 

I am a little pig. 

I shall build me a house. 

I shall build a strong house. 

This stone will make a strong house. 

I shall build my house of stone. 



Blackboard Lessons Preparing for Lessons in 
Book One 

Let us assume that the class has had the early board work 
suggested in Part One of this monograph, and is to take for 
the first book work " Book One of the Edson-Laing Readers." 

The first rhyme, " The Key to the King's Garden," requires 
little preparation on the content side, except perhaps a talk 
on gardens illustrated by a few pictures of beautiful gardens 
such as are given in Country Life, and a study of the sketch on 
page 5 of Book One of the Edson-Laing Readers. 

However, on the vocabulary side we find need of preparatory 
lessons. This rhyme presents a sequence of action pictures 
entirely familiar to the children through their everyday ex- 
periences. For instance, the rat which gnawed a string, the 
cat which caught the rat, the dog which chased the cat, are 
pictures familiar to most children, and all have the basal 
concepts from which to form these pictures. 



BLACKBOARD WORK IN READING 41 

The experience of selling and buying is familiar and the 
written expression for the same has been taught in the lesson 
given as Type I of this monograph. 

For the other pictures presented, " a cow that tossed a 
dog," " grass that fed the cow," and " ground that grew the 
grass," they have the basal concepts. City children do not 
know the live cow, but have, or can get from pictures, an idea 
of a cow. From life they have a concept of grass and the 
ground in which it is grown. The expression, " The ground 
grew the grass," is not familiar, hence they must be taught to 
first use orally, then to read this expression : 

The ground grew the grass. 
The grass fed the cow. 

The words " gnawed," " caught," " chased," might be 
better taught if introduced fn sentences given by the children, 
which might very naturally grow out of a conversation and 
observation lesson on their pets, the dog and the cat. Here 
is a group of short related sentences so developed and used in 
a board lesson. It will be seen that these words, " gnawed," 
" caught," " chased," are introduced in such connection as to 
give them meaning and make it easy for the child to grasp 
them through the context. In this group of sentences are 
introduced also the words, " fed," " ground," " dog," " cat," 
" rat," which occur in the rhyme. 



42 



BLACKBOARD WORK IN READING 



I have a dog. 

His name is Rover. 

Rover is a good dog. 

I fed my good dog. 

I gave him a bone. 

Rover gnawed the 
bone. 

Then he hid it in 
the ground. 

One day Rover 
chased my cat. 

My cat ran away. 

She ran up a tree. 

Rover did not catch 
her. 

He barked and 
barked. 



II 

My cat caught a 
little mouse. 

The mouse ran out 
of its hole. 

My cat saw the 
mouse. 

The little mouse 
ran. 

My cat chased it. 

She caught the little 
mouse. 



in 
My father caugh tarat. 

The rat gnawed a 
hole in the wall. 

My father set a 
trap. 

He caught the rat. 



blackboard work in reading 43 

Principles Involved 
It will be observed that, 

(1) The child's interest in his pets has been the center out 
of which this group of sentences has grown. 

(2) He has had a part in making these lessons, since 
the sentences were an expression of his experiences with his 
pets. 

(3) The vocabulary of the book lesson has been presented, but 
not its direct content. Hence the rhyme will come to the child 
as fresh, new material, but without presenting difficulties in 
word recognition. 

(4) This group of sentences which express his experiences 
with his pet dog chasing his cat, the cat catching a mouse, etc., 
has furnished him with mental pictures which enable him to 
interpret the rhyme, to grasp the sequence of action pictures 
which it presents, and also with a vocabulary of new words 
which occur in the rhyme. The words " string " and " king " 
can be taught phonetically. 

Having prepared the vocabulary, and in a measure for the 
content of the rhyme, take the books. Study the sketch on 
page 5, Book One, Edson-Laing Readers, talk about gardens, 
and put on the board this sentence: " This is the king's gar- 
den." Teach the first two lines of the rhyme as the words of 
the boy who is looking over the wall. By location in these 
lines, teach the phrases " The key," " the key," " the king's 
garden." The class can now read the rest of the rhyme to 
get its story. Make use of the sketches on each page to inter- 
pret the rhyme and give meaning to each page. 



44 blackboard work in reading 

The Little Red Hen 

For the reading of the stories, there is no better preparation 
on the content side than the telling and dramatization of the 
story before taking the books. New words and important 
phrases may be put on the board in connection with the story- 
telling, and a little work for quick recognition of the same 
should be given. By the oral presentation of the story, the 
child's thought and feeling are aroused and his interest in the 
story enables him to grasp easily and quickly the new words 
and phrases which occur in the conversational parts. The 
story itself sustains interest in the words and phrases taught. 

The child must be able to think connectedly before he can 
recall his story in connection. 

The simplest sequence for a child to follow is the story 
sequence. Such a story as " The Little Red Hen " presents 
so simple a sequence of activities that it is easily followed and 
expressed through dramatization. The dramatization helps 
the child to image the story sequence. He acts the hen 
scratching to plant the wheat, cutting, threshing, grinding 
it, etc., so remembers the sequence better. His action tends 
to create imagery. He images one thing happening, another, 
a second thing happening, — so gets a moving train of images 
corresponding to the sequence of his story. 

In this story of " The Little Red Hen/' the phrases " I will 
not/' " I will then," are repeatedly used. The sequence of 
activities is expressed in the words " plant," " cut," " thresh," 
"grind — this wheat" and "make bread." Let us choose 
this group of words and phrases for our first preparatory board 
lesson, and use the story to sustain interest. 



BLACKBOARD WORK IN READING 45 

(1) First tell the story without interruption to get its unity. 

(2) Retell it, using the board to teach the written form of 
these two basal phrases (" I will not," " I will then "). Use 
these three devices to fix the written form associated with its 
use in the story. 

(a) When the expression " I will not," or " I will then/' 
occurs in the story, without comment print it on the board as 
you speak it. 

(6) As it occurs a second time, merely point each time as 
you repeat the expression " I will not." 

(c) As it occurs a third time, point and pause for the children 
to supply this expression. 

(d) Choose children to take the part of the rat, the cat, the 
pig. As the teacher asks the questions asked by the little red 
hen, the children reply, " I will not." Then they find this 
sentence on the board. In like manner the teacher (for the 
red hen) responds, " I will then," and points to that sentence. 

Next put upon the board'the questions asked by the little 
red hen. 

The hen asked : 

Who will plant this wheat ? 
Who will cut this w r heat? 
Who will thresh this wheat? 
Who will grind it? 
Who will make bread? 

The phrase " Who will " is familiar if taken in Type I of 



46 BLACKBOARD WORK IN READING 

this monograph. Teach " this wheat " by location in the first 
sentence. 

Instead of writing the entire question, one may write only 
the words "plant," " cut," " thresh," " grind," " make 
bread," — asking, " Who will plant this wheat? " and at the 
same time pointing to the word, " plant." 

Dramatize the Story. 

No stage setting or costuming is required. The dramatiza- 
tion should be very simple and in the child's own manner. 
Do not suggest too much in regard to details or criticise the 
child's own interpretation and expression. Perhaps suggest 
before the dramatization begins that the little hen must scratch 
up the ground and drop the seeds in when planting it, — that 
she could use her bill to cut it, thresh it by pecking and scratch- 
ing, and grind it with her bill. Then let a child be the hen and 
perform these activities as each child thinks the hen did. The 
dramatization should be a very simple, spontaneous expression 
of the child's interpretation of the story. 

As a second preparatory lesson, give a short drill on the 
words and phrases suggested in the word list. 



red 


to the garden 


some wheat 


hen 


in the garden 


found 


ran 


A rat 


The hen said, 


had 


A pig 


The hen asked, 




was 


grew up. 



Get the first four phonetically. To aid the child in grasp- 



BLACKBOARD WORK IN READING 47 

ing the meaning of each word or phrase of the list, the teacher 
may suggest the meaning, by its use in a sentence or story. 
She may give part of a sentence, then print rapidly, or point 
to, the phrase or new word, and let the children read it. 

To illustrate: the column at the left indicates the part of 
sentences given by the teacher, and the column at the right 
indicates the word or phrase which she prints for the children 
to read. 

(1) (2) 

The hen ran to the garden 

While she was in the garden 

the hen f OUIld 

some wheat 

After she planted 

the wheat, it , m grew lip. 

Tell them the words " said," " asked," and let them get 
the phrases, " The hen said," " The hen asked," or introduce 
them in connection with a review of the questions, " Who will 
plant this wheat? " etc. Take the books and read the story. 

The Three Little Pigs 
For another type lesson we will take the story of " The Three 
Little Pigs " which is found in so many of the first-year read- 
ing books. We will assume that the children are familiar with 
the story, as they should have had it in oral language work 
before attempting to read it. In connection with the drama- 



48 BLACKBOARD WORK IN READING 

tization they may have been taught the conversational part 
which occurs so frequently in the story. 

" Little pig, little pig, 
Let me come in." 

" No, no, by the hair 
Of my chinny-chin-chin." 

" Then Fll huff, and Fll puff, 
And Fll blow your house in." 

In preparation for the book lesson, print on the board a list 
of the new words and important phrases which occur in the 
story. The story itself will again serve to sustain interest, 
and so aid in the mastery of these words and phrases. 

The teacher may narrate the main points of the story and 
point to a phrase or word, pausing for the children to supply 
it. They can often get the word by phonetics, often from the 
context. 

From the series of lessons based on the building instinct 
given on pages 37 to 40 of this monograph, they already 
know " I shall build," " a house," " of sticks," " a strong 
house," "The wolf," "blow in," "One day," "built," 
" sticks." 

On the board put this list — 
Once there was 
There was 
a mother pig 

Go, find some work, little pigs. 
went 



BLACKBOARD WORK IN READING 



49 



I shall build 
straw 
of straw 
sticks 
of sticks 
One day 
a wolf came 
knocked 
at the door 



This straw 
soft 



huffed 
puffed 
blew in 
ate 



The teacher says, " Many of our stories begin with the 
expression, ' Once there was.' ' She points to this expression 
and asks the children to recall stories which begin with that 
expression. Pointing again to this phrase, she continues, 
" The story we are to read this morning begins with the ex- 
pression ," and pauses to let the children supply, " Once 

there was." 

The teacher continues thus to narrate the story and to let 
the children supply the word or phrase to which she points. 



(Teacher narrates) 
Some stories begin with 
This story is about 
She said to her little pigs, 
" Go, find some work, little pigs." 
" The little pigs 
to find work. They did not know 
what work to do. At last one little pig 
thought he needed a house to live in so 



(Children supply) 
Once there was 
a mother pig 



went 



50 



BLACKBOARD WORK IN READING 



he said, 


/ shall build me a 


They all decided to build houses. 


house. 


Then they went to find material 




with which to build. One found some 


straw 


He said to himself 


This straw 


will make my house 


soft 


I will build my house 


of straw 


One pig found some 


sticks 


He built his house 


of sticks 


They were very happy in their 




houses until something happened 


One day 


This is what happened 


a wolf came 


The wolf 


knocked 




at the door 


The little pig did not let 




him in but he 


huffed and puffed 


and 


blew in 


the little pig's house and 


ate 


the poor little pig." 




The third little pig found 


some stone 


so he built his house 


of stone 




He worked 




one day 




two days 




three days 


Then his house of stone 


was built 



The stone house was strong and 

the wolf 

blow in that house." 



did not 



BLACKBOARD WORK IN READING 51 

Train the eye to a quick grasp of these words and phrases 
by pointing rapidly, by erasing quickly, or by putting into 
sentences and erasing quickly. Play this game. Think of one 
phrase and let the class guess until they find it. Thus each 
child points to several words or phrases in the list. The 
teacher says, " I am thinking of a phrase." The child called 
upon asks, as he points to one, " Is it ' I shall build ' ? " If 
not, the reply is, " No, it is not ' I shall build,' " or if it is, then 
" Yes, it is ' I shall build,' " etc. 

Thus the entire list can be rapidly reviewed. 

Principles Involved 

In this last type lesson, as in those preceding it, observe 
that: 

(1) In this preparation of vocabulary, interest in content has 
been made to predominate over mechanical drill. 

(2) The story narrated by the teacher, with an opportunity 
for the children to supply words and phrases of the list, served 
to sustain interest. 

(3) The story also helped the child to grasp the situation 
which holds the meaning for each phrase; therefore facilitated 
his mastery of the phrase. 

(4) This preparatory study of difficult phrase wholes, such as 
" was built, "^ " blew in," " at the door," " I shall build," " a 
wolf came," is a better preparation for reading the story than 
is the usual word drill, a drill upon isolated words. 

It is better because it secures the quick eye movement 
which is necessary in grasping a sentence, phrase by 
phrase. 



52 BLACKBOARD WORK IN READING 

It is better because it gives the child command of certain 
idiomatic expressions, which are in common use. 

(5) Sufficient work should be done with all difficult phrases 
and new words which occur in the book lesson to enable the 
children to recognize them at a glance, before the books are 
taken. 

The First Use of the Book 

The blackboard work should have established a habit of 
rapid eye movement; of grasping sentences phrase by phrase; 
and of reading from sentence to sentence a group of connected 
or related sentences. The use of leaflets, which the teacher 
prepared for individual work, has made the step from the board 
work to the book an easy one. 

When the book is first put into the hands of the children, 
they should be allowed to do individual work as they did with 
the leaflets. They should be allowed first to read silently, 
asking help when necessary and reporting from time to time 
upon what they are reading. The teacher should also read, 
give the needed help, and discuss the illustrative sketches and 
the stories read. 

In the oral reading, each child should be allowed to read 
several sentences; never one sentence, each, around the class, 
as is so often done. The practice of reading single sentences 
soon destroys the reading habit, as it interrupts the thought 
impulse. 

With the book work, therefore, the habit of reading several 
sentences connectedly and of grasping phrase after phrase 
with a quick eye movement must be kept up. The same 



BLACKBOARD WORK IN READING 53 

methods used in the blackboard lessons, and the continued use 
of the blackboard in preparatory lessons and for frequent 
reviews will accomplish this aim, and help to make good 
readers. 

Before taking a book, the teacher should prepare a list of 
the important phrases and new words which occur in its pages. 
She should plan to introduce these when possible in her black- 
board lessons. Chosen from the books used as basal readers, 
such a list may be regarded as constituting the fundamental 
vocabulary for the lessons. 

The list from Book One of the Edson-Laing Readers is 
given here as a suggestion of what constitutes a desirable list. 
A similar list should be made for any basal reader in use. 



NOTE 

This list of words and phrases taken from Book One of the 
Edson-Laing Readers is introduced for its phrase list. It will 
show teachers how the important phrases may be selected, rather 
than isolated words. A similar choice can be made for any book. 



5. 


The key 
the key 


13. 


ground 
grew the 




(A cat) 
Apig 


22. 


thresh 




grind 




To 




grass 




was 




(grind it) 




— 








(in the garden) 








King s 


14. 


will 




some 


23. 


make 




garden 




buy 




wheat 




bread 


6. 


I sell 




(I will buy) 


19. 


found 




(Bread) 
(make bread) 


7. 


the string 


15. 


little 




The hen 




eat 




That 
held 




acorn 




said 
See 




But 




sister 


had 









One 




it 






8. 


the rat 




Two 




24. 


my 




gnawed 




Three 


20. 


The hen 




seeds 


9. 


the cat 




girls 
No 




asked 




small 




caught 


16. 




Who 
will plant 




(will grow) 

flowers 


10. 


dog 


17. 


red 




this wheat 




tall 








hen 




I will not 


25. 


This is 


11. 


cow 




ran 




I will then 




house 




tossed 




chicks 


21. 


grew up 




boys 


12. 


grass 




(to the garden) 




(Then) 




built 




fed 


18. 


A rat 




will cut 




board 



54 





was nailed 


is put 




I shall 


44 


did not 




(in the house) 




(on the table) 




build 


45. 


Peter 


2b 


log 

made 


32. 


braided 


37. 


soft 




Nanny 




tree 




(washes the 


38. 


straw 




a goat 




in the 




china) 




(This straw) 




name 




wood 




with great 39. 


a wolf 




ran away 








care 




came 




saw 


27 


farmer " 

















strong 
good 
Strong an c 


33. 


a room 




knocked 
at the door 


46. 


on a hill 




At the foot 


supper 






of the stair 




Let me 




My dear 




good 




Where 


40. 


by the hair 




fox 


28. 


cock 




works 




c h i n n y - 
chin 




bite 
home 




crows 


34. 


a doll 




huffed 




(Come) 




in the 












(come home) 




morn 




call 




puffed 


48. 


bear 




wakes 




Clare 




blow 

(blew in) 




kilT 


29. 


laddie 




take 




your house 




I am 




corn 




. 




ate 




hungry 




(planting corn) 


35. 


Once there 




— 




I want 




feeds 




was 


41. 


sticks 






30. 


table 
white 




a mother 
Pig 


42. 


(of sticks) 

So 


49. 


man 
shoot 








(There was) 


43. 


some stone 




rope 




square 
















stands 


36. 


One day 




(This stone) 
(of stone) 






31. 


china 




Go 
find 




He worked 
(one day) 


50. 


(But) 
(catch) 




washed 
with care 




went 

(Little pig) 




(two days) 
(three days) 
(was built) 


51. 


are 
Give me 








55 







milk 

(gave) 

gate 
her leg 
Mah-ah 

Now 

butter 

Waiting 

cake 

(a buttered 
cake) 

54. rabbit 



52. 



53. 



56. 



57. 



60. 



cabbage 
soup 

(to look) 
(to make) 

55. from the 

garden 

locked 



61. 



A gruff 62. 
voice 



(Who is it) 

huge 

a spring 
a bound 



G4. 



can 

in no time 



(With a 65. 

spring) 

She met 
Strong ox 
help me 
I am afraid 



58. big 
Oh 



59. fine 



(Help me) 
(a fine cock) 

the poor 
rabbit 

(No one) 
out of 
ant 
weep 

they 
together 

great 

keyhole 

stunfir 



window 

snow 
food 
clogged 

feet 

(it began) 



69. 



70. 



71. 



you must 

be _ " 73. 
I may be 

sun 

melt 

v^dl 



(You may) 

sweet 



stir 

Do not 
spoon 
fell 
drowned 



68. Cri-Cri 74. Robin 



lived 

pretty 

hear 

sing 

Moo-oo 

speak 

pleasant 

Bow-wow 

(bow-wow) 

broom 



Ugh-ugh 

(Pretty Ant) 

Gray 

Pussy 
began 
Meow 



72. Cock 



doodle- 



75. 



77. 



78. 



Red- 
breast 
Why " 
cut off 

bill 

tall 

Queen 

sat 

upon a 
tree 
down 



if you can 

(Up) 

(Down) 
(Said) 

hop 

stop 

how do you 

~~ do 

shook 



56 





far away 


88. 


punish 




ride away 




(into the tent) 




he flew 

(flew away) 


89. 


scold 




clippety- 
clap 




head 
through 


79 


Wee 


91. 


fire 









the 








I must 


96. 


lost a shoe 




door 




Christmas 




bake 




what shall 


103. 


do no 




song 


92. 


stream 


97. 


(How can I) 
coal 




harm 




go 




(put out the 






105. 


middle- 




him 




fire) 




iron 








bonny 




mill 




heat the 




sized 






wind 




. 




bear 




Sly Fox 








iron 




father 


81. 


(to a garden) 


93. 


selfish 


98. 


hay 




bear 


84. 


(good man) 




in fear 




miller 




baby bear 




child 




(Go away) 
(ran away) 




All of 




Golden 




I have 
been 


94. 


John 




them 
(good to eat) 




Hair 




London 




Smith 
within 


99. 


wheels 
round and 

round 
turn 


106. 


(No one) 
opened 




diamond 














Blacksmith 


the 




As big as 
shoe 




set a shoe 






door 
bowls 









Yes 




old woman 






85. 


Thick and 




Here and 












thin 
Fit for a 




there 
Tick- tack - 


100. 
101. 


miner 




too hot 




under the 


just right 




King 




too 




ground 


107. 


chairs 


86. 


monkey 


95. 


pony 




four 




too hard 




nut 




(on his pony) 




clang 




broke it 




large tree 




loved to 


102. 


. camel 




in 


87. 


officer 




jump 

(loved to go) 




in a tent 


108. 


beds 



57 



109. 



110. 



111. 



lay down 112. 
fell asleep 
(Some one) 

has tasted 
all gone 
has been 
sitting 

lying 

(here she is) 

awoke 



Wi 



for the 
lady 



113. 



Lion 
EaTth" 
over and 

over 
heard a 114 ' 



brother 

rabbit 
(day by day) 

go and 
tell 



115. 



deer 

sheep 

tiger 
elephant 

saying 

(say so) 

Who told 
you? 

(told me) 

(What made 

you) 
(say that) 
(I saw it) 



116. 
117. 

118. 



(we shall see) 

(Shall we go) 

(They went 

away) 

black- 
birds 



The other 
Jack 
JilT 
fly away 
come 
again 



58 



JUL 7 1913 



